Hybrid Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Light Distribution in a Bubble Column Photobioreactor

Christopher McHardy, Giovanni Luzi, Jose Rodriguez Agudo, Antonio Delgado, Cornelia Rauh

2017

Abstract

Cultivation of phototrophic microorganisms occurs often in closed photobioreactors (PBR). Thereby, the distribution of light inside PBR is a key factor for phototrophic growth and reactor productivity. To predict local light intensities, it is often assumed that the absorption rate is constant in space, and scattering by microorganisms is negligible. The present contribution aims to present a hybrid model to simulate fluid flow characteristics and its impact on light fields in a bubble column PBR. First, numerical simulations of bubble column flow have been performed. Afterwards, the computed local air volume fractions have been used to obtain local radiation characteristics of the gassed suspension, and polychromatic light fields were computed and compared to the optically homogeneous case.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

McHardy C., Luzi G., Agudo J., Delgado A. and Rauh C. (2017). Hybrid Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Light Distribution in a Bubble Column Photobioreactor . In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Photonics, Optics and Laser Technology - Volume 1: PHOTOPTICS, ISBN 978-989-758-223-3, pages 304-311. DOI: 10.5220/0006226003040311

in Bibtex Style

@conference{photoptics17,
author={Christopher McHardy and Giovanni Luzi and Jose Rodriguez Agudo and Antonio Delgado and Cornelia Rauh},
title={Hybrid Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Light Distribution in a Bubble Column Photobioreactor},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Photonics, Optics and Laser Technology - Volume 1: PHOTOPTICS,},
year={2017},
pages={304-311},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0006226003040311},
isbn={978-989-758-223-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Photonics, Optics and Laser Technology - Volume 1: PHOTOPTICS,
TI - Hybrid Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow and Light Distribution in a Bubble Column Photobioreactor
SN - 978-989-758-223-3
AU - McHardy C.
AU - Luzi G.
AU - Agudo J.
AU - Delgado A.
AU - Rauh C.
PY - 2017
SP - 304
EP - 311
DO - 10.5220/0006226003040311